Extending the Theme

My life has a couple things in common with the characters in To Kill a Mockingbird. The only obvious similarities have to do with my first years of school. When I was young I really hated school, and I would often get in trouble. Often this was because I was reading when I was supposed to be doing something else, which, while it's not the exact same, is similar to why Scout got in trouble as it concerned reading when you weren't supposed to be able to. I also didn't know anyone going into school, since I only had two or three close friends at the time. Two of them went to a different school and another moved away in the first grade. Luckily, unlike Scout, I made quite a few friends early on and from that point onward I was not short of friends until the sixth grade.

Other than this, I don't think my life has much in common with those of the characters in To Kill a Mockingbird. I was never particularly close to my father or sister, didn't have a maid or anyone with a role to Calpurnia's (excluding my own mother), and there was no intriguing neighbor for me to attempt to contact.

One thing this novel taught me was what it's like being a small child. I had forgotten what it was like, and being put in the shoes of one for the duration of the novel was very enlightening. I'd forgotten that you're perfectly content with activities that, to me, would seem extremely boring, such as reciting plays or playing with simple toys such as batons. At this age, activities like that seemed tedious, and now I can better understand why they entertain younger children so much.

I also saw what it would be like to be discriminated against, just for being a different color. While I already knew that black people were often treated worse, this gave me a better idea of just what "worse" meant, at least in that era.

Reading over this, I'm actually a little disappointed in myself. I feel like I could've learned a lot more from this book, and am sad that this is all I've gained knowledge of. When I next read a book, I will be careful to identify what relates to my life and what I can learn from the book. I'm glad this blog post helped me realize that.